What issues can fleas and worms cause my cat?

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Help protect your cat against intestinal worms and fleas with Dronspot Spot-on Wormer for cats and Advantage Spot-on flea treatment.

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Fleas

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Fleas

Adult fleas feed on blood and can pass from one animal to another and they also bite humans. They lay eggs within 48 hours of feeding, which fall into carpets, furniture, pets’ bedding and anywhere else your animal goes – which may include your own bed! Fleas can lay up to 50 eggs a day, which hatch into larvae that feed on organic debris, such as flea droppings, skin scale and hair.

The larva spins a cocoon and becomes a pupa, inside which the adult flea is formed and can live for up to two years before hatching into a fully formed flea, ready to bite and start the lifecycle all over again.

The flea is incredibly efficient; the entire life cycle of the flea can be completed within as few as 15 days.

Worms

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Worms

There are two main types of intestinal worms found in cats, roundworms & tapeworms. Female adult roundworms can lay up to 85,000 eggs per day.

Tapeworms can cause nausea, vomiting and fatigue in cats, among other symptoms – though often cats will show no signs at all. These worms can be caught from fleas, which can carry the larval stages of the tapeworm, if ingested during grooming. Roundworms are the most common type of worm affecting cats and can also be transmitted to humans, including young children.

One in five cat owners (20%) don’t treat their cat for intestinal worms until they are told to by their vet.1

Despite this, 40% of owners admit they do not use a preventative product on their cat and 16% say they wait to see a flea or flea dirt on their pet before treating for fleas.1

Advantage flea treatment is clinically proven to kill fleas. This spot-on treatment is fast acting, effective and easy to apply.

Cats spend nearly one third of their waking hours cleaning themselves.2 Fleas can also carry tapeworm, as cats spend so much time grooming, they can easily ingest an infected flea.

DronspotSpot-on worm treatment is clinically proven to kill every type of intestinal worm commonly found in UK cats. Available as a convenient, easy to apply spot-on solution, Dronspot helps to protect your cat against intestinal worms in a single spot. It’s recommended that Dronspot is applied at least once every three months.

It is recommended to leave 2 days between applying Advantage and Dronspot.

One in 10 cat owners only treat their cat when they scoot their bottom across the floor – this is a recognisable sign that your cat may have intestinal worms, but even cats showing no signs at all may be harbouring these parasites.2

1 Nationally representative survey of 2,000 British cat owners by 3gem research on behalf of Bayer2 https://www.factretriever.com/cat-facts